Former BCCI chief to appear before ED

Mumbai. Former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), N Srinivasan, will be appearing before the special director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) today for cross-examination by Mehmood Abidi, the lawyer of former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman, Lalit Modi, in connection with an alleged case of violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Srinivasan, who also headed the International Cricket Council (ICC) in the past, is scheduled to arrive at ED office at around 2.30pm and the cross-examination is likely to continue until 5.30pm.

Prior to Srinivasan, a string of BCCI office-bearers, including Chirayu Amin, Dr. Ratnakar Shetty, Shashank Manohar and Prasanna Kanan, had appeared before the special director of ED, who is the adjudicating authority for cross-examination by Modi’s lawyer, on the direction of the Bombay High Court. In July 2011, the ED had issued a show cause notice under the provisions of FEMA to Lalit Modi and the BCCI for allegedly transferring Rs253.45 crore to South Africa without obtaining prior permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), ahead of the IPL tournament in that country in 2009. The high court in February had accepted a plea by Modi to cross-examine officials of the BCCI who held high positions, stating that the decision to transfer the venue and the money was known to everyone in the board.